


A Gift for Cullen

by AParisianShakespearean



Series: Dragon Age One Shots [11]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adorable Cullen, F/M, Flirting, Gift Giving, Kisses, Knitting, Scarves, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 18:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12086370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AParisianShakespearean/pseuds/AParisianShakespearean
Summary: After taking her to his favorite childhood spot, Juliet wants to give Cullen something in return.





	A Gift for Cullen

**Author's Note:**

> Last of the tumblr giveaways! First place winner :P Juliet isn't my OC, she belongs to @alaskasfrostyangel on tumblr.

Juliet sat cross-legged in her room, knitting the finishing touches. The scarf was a warm burgundy color, the same as Cullen’s mantle. She hoped he would like it.

In the time spent away from him in the Exalted Plains, she had tirelessly worked on it during the night by the campfire, thinking of him all the way, and what he would say when she presented this gift to him. She knit so many scarves in her life, mostly when she was in the Circle, but she had never given one to someone before. Back then before the Inquisition, knitting was a way to pass the time, something to keep her hands busy even as her mind raced. It was her private escape and way to relax. But what would Cullen think if she gave him this? Already he had let her into his world, had taken her to his secret place as a child. He had given her his coin, the same coin that he carried with him since he was thirteen years old. He left it in her care now, and if she could be so bold, she suspected he also gave her his heart that night. It was written in his eyes, and it was written in the way that he held her. Kissed her. Giving him this scarf, though perhaps small, would be a way to tell him the same. Her heart now lay with him.

Was it too soon to say it? Perhaps. But it didn’t stop her from what she felt.

She wondered if he would even like this gift. It wasn’t nearly as personal as the coin that he had given her, the coin that she now wore around her neck. The thought of giving it to him and his forced smile was enough to send her heart rate going a million beats, and make her blush the deepest crimson. Maybe he would never actually wear it. He needed to maintain a professional demeanor around the troops, which was why he always wore his armor and mantle. Maker he even wore the armor when he took her to Ferelden. Was it too silly then, to give him something he may never need?

Give it to him, her inner voice chanted. Just do it.

Stuffing the scarf into her jacket, she assessed her appearance before leaving her, combing away a few loose strands of her short dark hair. Afterward she left the room, passed the great hall and nodded at Varric, who was at his usual place by the fire. He was hovering over a few letters when he greeted her.

“Off to see Curly?” he asked, a touch playful.

“Maybe,” she replied, grinning like a fool.

“You worked on it nonstop when we were in the Plains,” he said. “I promise. He’ll love it.”

She hoped so as she crossed through the battlements, opening the door to his office. It never mattered how dull, how tiring, or how otherwise atrocious or appalling Juliet’s day was. Whenever she walked into Cullen’s office after her duties were over, everything would be perfect and right, because he was there, more than ready to see her.

When she gently closed the front door behind her, Cullen looked up from his paperwork, the hardness and lines dissipating into something softer. Something Juliet loved more than words could ever say.

“Cullen,” she said, softly.

“I’d hoped you stop by.”

She never tired of hearing him say that. “Of course I stopped by,” she replied.

Abandoning his work, he came over from the desk and wrapped his arms around her. The smell of elderflower and oakmoss that clung to his skin and clothes enveloped her, made her know that yes, she was here, with him. Safe. She had only returned from the Plains yesterday and had yet to see him, finishing up the fringe on her scarf before coming to him instead. In the time without him, his arms now felt like warmth. And when he kissed her tenderly, his lips tasted like home.

“I missed you,” he murmured. “I…it’s lonely without you.”

“I was lonely without you too,” she said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“What were you thinking about?”

He had a devilish look in his eye, and Juliet blushed. “Perhaps I’ll tell you someday,” she said.

“Oh? Someday?”

She took his hand, leading him to the other door to the battlements. “Walk with me,” she said. “There’s something I want to show you.”

The early evening painted the sky into a pinkish orange haze, and Juliet and Cullen walked hand in hand, nodding at the guards as they passed them. They took this walk often, the guards often suppressing their giggles, and as they made it to their usual spot, Cullen once again caught Juliet in a kiss. His lips were soft, the scar feeling like velvet underneath her lips and tongue, and she laughed at the playful scrap of his teeth against her cupid’s bow.

“I missed you,” he said.

“You may have mentioned it.”

“Can’t I tell you again?”

She laughed, pressing a gentle kiss to his stubbled jaw. “There’s something I have for you. Something I want to give you. But please tell me you won’t laugh first.”

“You don’t have to give me anything,” he said. “You give me something every day.”

He pressed her closer, and his hand made circles around her back, gently kneading the flesh. Holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world, and in her choosing him, she had already given him everything he would ever need.

“Cullen,” she said, his eyes not wavering from hers. “I wanted to make something for you. Especially after you gave me your brother’s coin.”

He held her face in his hands. “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to. I just hope you like it. Do you remember how I told you I like to knit, well…”

“Juliet… did you?”

Without saying anything else she reached into her coat pocket and took out the scarf before handing it to him. “I made this for you,” she said. “I worked on it while I was in the Plains, by the fire. Then I realized it may be a bit silly, I’ve never seen you in anything except your armor, but I just thought that maybe it would…I don’t know.” He wasn’t saying anything, and she felt very small, and very silly. “I’m sorry Cullen, I guess it is a bit silly but—”

“No, no…that’s not…Juliet…I love it.”

She peered at him, and just as he had always held her, gently and lovingly as if she was the most wonderful, beautiful thing that had ever been in his arms, he held the knitted scarf with the utmost care and delicacy. “You do love it?” she asked. “Really? You’re not saying that to make me feel better?”

“Really. I do. I love it. It’s…no one has given me a gift in a long time.”

“I wish it could be something else, but—”

“No. This is perfect.”

“I…I’m glad.”

He was looking a little pink, a blush forming. “Would you…put it on me, maybe?”

Grinning, Juliet took the scarf and wrapped it around his neck. It was a little awkward with his mantle and armor in the way, but when she wrapped it around, she had never seen him look so proud. “I’m glad you like it,” she admitted. “I just thought…you gave me part of yourself, when you took me to the lake. I only wanted to do the same.”

“Didn’t you knit in the Circle?”

She nodded. “I didn’t have many friends.” She admitted it as much before to him, though she didn’t like remembering those days. “I would knit to pass the time when I wasn’t practicing. I never had anyone to give my scarves or sweaters to before though.”

Gently, he kissed her on the cheek. “You know, my mother used to knit.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “She would make us scarves, and other things for the winter. I never thought I would have one again.”

“Maybe I can make you a sweater?” she suggested. “You would look so handsome in a burgundy sweater.”

“Would I?”

“Maker’s breath you know you would!”

Laughing, they kissed again, her hands running through his hair. When they parted, he gently kissed the scar on her cheek and forehead. “I’m really glad you like it,” she admitted again. “Promise me you’ll wear it and think of me?”

“Of course love.”

She froze, looking up at him. “What did you say?”

Did he realize what he had just called her? Perhaps not at first, as he uncomfortably began to scratch the back of his neck. “Ummm….”

“Cullen…” she took his hand. “Say it again.”

“Love,” he murmured, continuing to blush and otherwise be flustered. “I uh…”

“Am I really your love?”

Sometimes, words were not enough, but kisses said everything that needed to be said, as well as so much more. And when Cullen kissed her again, slowly and savoring the feel of her, she realized that he didn’t even have to murmur it for her to already know. 

“Am I your love?” Cullen asked when they parted, his breath caressing her neck.

And of course, when she kissed him back, her kisses said more than the words could. Just as it was woven with every loop in the scarf that she had made him. You are my love, and the one I will always want.


End file.
